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It’s a term grown from cyberspace, harvested by social media, sprinkled with hipster lingo and topped with a bit of laziness and voila. It means, “I’m over it, I’m done, I’m mentally fatigued, this is too draining, I don’t care anymore.” You get the idea. Next time you've given up and you're on Twitter, type, "I can’t even."

But surely when it comes to helping these little guys, you could never be over it? Surely?

Naaaaaw. See? How can you "not even?" Look at that little Beagle!

Well let me tell you about “Compassion Fatigue,” for animal carers, the phenomenon of people who volunteer or work in an animal shelter who eventually reach that point of saying, “I can’t even.”

The side effects are serious though: depression (which can lead to people withdrawing from friends, family and society) and increased anger (hating the world because of the hurt they’ve seen done to animals in their care).

Tania Signal, Associate Professor at Central Queensland University is studying Compassion Fatigue for people who volunteer or work with animals.

Early indications are it could explain why places like the RSPCA have a large turnover of volunteer staff. After a while they just can’t even.

“People burn out, they get stressed out and they can’t keep doing their volunteer work,” said Tania Signal.

“It’s like a secondary trauma so you as the carer of the animal aren’t the one going through the ordeal of the awful situation but you are looking after a living being that has. So it’s like you absorb that,” she said.

“Even if you’re just going in to volunteer and help clean up the kennels you’re still around those animals and you see them every day, and it’s that volume of caring that triggers off compassion fatigue,” said Tania Signal.

Tania is collecting data from people who have helped in animal shelters, as a volunteer or otherwise and is asking you to fill out an anonymous survey (below).

The results are expected in two or three months but at least one animal shelter manager in Far North Queensland can confirm Compassion Fatigue exists, and it’s ugly.

Carol Clifton runs the Young Animal Protection Society (YAPS) which is a no-kill shelter (they don’t euthanize animals) for dogs and cats.

Carol says carer’s fatigue and its symptoms are as common as finding dog hair in the bottom of your washing machine after a week of volunteer animal shelter work.

“For sure (caring for injured animals) is an emotional thing and a lot of people think working with animals is simply coming in and playing with them but some of the things they see can hit home very hard sometimes,” said Ms Clifton.

Carol Clifton says she sees the symptoms of Compassion Fatigue often and wants to see what comes out of the study so she can introduce coping mechanisms for her staff and volunteers.

“There’s always tears, there’s always tears, “ she said. “We are a no-kill shelter which takes the pressure off a bit, but it doesn’t mean to say we don’t lose animals that come in so badly abused or sick and we lose them.”

Carol says even while the study into Compassion Fatigue is new, she already takes steps to minimise its impact.

“It’s there it is a big thing, you everyone’s got their own way of dealing with things but you’ve really got to be bloody tough to work in the industry. If you’re not it’s going to wear you down and affect you but we try and shelter the volunteers from the bad stuff.”

To take part in the survey click the link below. I’ve not worked as a carer or volunteered in an animal shelter so I can’t even.

Aron Baynes never knew what it’s like to have a superstar come to his school to encourage him to reach for the stars.

That’s probably a good thing because if that did happen, Baynes might not be a 2014 world champion San Antonio Spur.

Instead he might be a rugby league star.

Baynes played rugby league in his home town of Mareeba in far northern Australia. It’s a tiny town that relies on the farming of crops like mango, sugar, avocado and bananas for income to feed the 7,000 people who live there.

If you don’t play rugby league in Mareeba you’re a girl. Actually, girls also play rugby league in Mareeba.

Baynes’ brother told a local high school basketball coach that he had a sibling who was 15 years old and already 6’8”. That started Aron’s journey from the Mareeba rugby league field to the NBA.

But Baynes is making sure young basketball players in regional Australia get to meet a star like him and get direction to make it to the big time.

He’s founded the Aron Baynes Academy, based in the coastal tourism city of Cairns (literally “down the hill” from Mareeba).

“In Cairns we’re trying to focus on children from the ages of 10 to 13 at the moment and we’ve got some elite kids that come in twice a week to train,”

“Not only are the children getting better but we’re also developing coaches which is a big reason I wanted to do it because I had good coaches helping to develop me and I know how much of an impact that makes,” Baynes said.

The 208 centimetre Aussie doesn’t want children to miss out on an early start in the game, having to wait until they’re 15 years old to get some coaching like he did. But it makes you wonder what kind of player he’d be if he started playing when most NBA players did, when they could walk.

“Ha, you know that’s one thing I always look back on but at the same time I don’t regret it because I was doing other things so I think I had a pretty broad base of physical activities so I don’t regret it too much but I always think, ‘What if I’d been able to start early?’”

Selling the dream of possible super stardom is easier these days thanks to the Australian basketball players who’ve already made it to the NBA. Currently there are eight Aussies in the NBA (Baynes, Andrew Bogut in Golden State, Patty Mills in San Antonio, Matthew Dellavedova in Cleveland, Dante Exum, Brock Motum and Joe Ingles in Utah and Cameron Bairstow in Chicago) and their entry into the league was made easier by Luc Longley in the 1990’s who won three world championships with the Chicago Bulls.

This year, like last, another Australian will win an NBA title with Dellavedova’s Cleveland Cavaliers facing Bogut’s Golden State Warriors in the seven-game finals series.

Baynes says this kind of continued success for players from down-under means more young Australians will put down the rugby ball and cricket bat and instead pick up a basketball. Hopefully they’ll sign up to the Aron Baynes Academy.

“Kids can now look up to not only myself but the seven other Australians in the NBA right now so there’s definitely those avenues they can follow and they know they can reach the highest level in professional basketball if they focus on it and commit themselves to doing it so I feel good being an example for those kids,” said Baynes.

It’s been a real life fairy tale for Baynes. He was part of the 2014 World Champion San Antonio Spurs, winning alongside one his best friends and one of his heroes.

He met team mate and fellow Aussie Patty Mills when Mills was 15 years old, in Australia’s capital city Canberra at Australia’s Institute of Sport.

Baynes also won the NBA title with the most dominant player who played in the first NBA game he ever watched on late night television in Australia, Tim Duncan.

“I’ve had a few of those star struck moments and they’re still happening but I remember the first day I walked in and sat down at my locker and saw my name up there and there a couple of chairs over was Tim Duncan’s locker and I was just sitting there looking at his locker and the next thing I know he walked in and I’m like, “Ok, this is real, I’m on the same team as Timmy” so it was definitely a moment that I’ll cherish for as long as I play the game,” he said.

With more Australian’s playing basketball in the United States college system it seems there’s about to be an influx of players from the land Down Under holding up the NBA trophy.

“Having an Australian presence there is huge, the game is followed by so many down here in Australia and over the past few years there’s been a lot of support for the Aussies playing in the NBA and seeing two guys again competing at the highest level going for the championship is great,” said Baynes.

Click "Aron Baynes Academy" below to hear Aron Baynes speaking about his training academy and the Aussie invasion into the NBA with ABC Radio presenter Phil Staley.

Don Tennant can't use either of the Cairns Yacht Club's modified sailing boats right now because both of his legs are in a cast after he fell down a flight of stairs in his wheelchair at Christmas time and broke both of his femur bones.

But before you wince and say, "Geez, poor bugger," don't worry. Don was having a chuckle recounting the tail and reminded me that he's been paraplegic for quite some time. Apart from a few minor "electric shocks similar to a low wattage electric fence," he didn't feel a thing.

"It's a bit embarrassing but the stair lift I was using wasn't working properly, to use it I had to reverse onto it and I had a house full of people and I didn't notice that it wasn't there at all...I fell backwards down the stairs.

"Fortunately I came out of the wheelchair and landed at the bottom but unfortunately the wheelchair landed on top of me, broke both my legs, 170 kilograms of chair can do a bit of damage," he said.

As Don told me this tale I thought it was getting worse and felt bad, but his smile was growing.

"I've still got my marbles and two broken legs is the least of my worries, another few weeks and i'll get into that new schooner and get out there (on the ocean) again."

This bloke is truly inspiring. That's why I included that wacky photo at the top of this blog. (Don is in the middle, Gordo on your right) When I took it I thought we should all do a selfie but Gordo and Don just did what they always do which is have the most fun possible with whatever is in front of them.

After sailing all of his life Don Tennant still get's to do it, even though he's paraplegic.

As he tells me, sailing on the open sea's, wind in your hair and dipping your hand into the cool water is what it's all about.

Except Don has to put his hand past the wrist into the water otherwise he can't feel it.

He says without the Cairns Yacht Club's Sailors with a disability program he'd be in a gloomier place than he'd care to think about.

"There aren't many opportunities for someone who's in a wheelchair to have this level of freedom, I have to be honest it's a buzz sitting fairly close to the water, depending on which side of the boat you're on, you stick your arm in the water," he said.

"The program's open to all people with varying levels of disability, including brain injury people.

"When I had a go at this at Manly in Brisbane I went out with the guys and when they offered me the helm they were surprised that I actually took it because they'd had people doing it for two years but I was the first guy to actually take the helm.

"Most of their guys just go out and enjoy it but don't particularly want to sail but they want the experience and it's just fantastic for well being and getting out in the open air," he said.

Sailing with a disability from Cairns has been made a lot easier thanks to the enormous generosity of Fitzroy Island resort owner Doug Gamble who recently donated a customised boat to the Cairns Yacht Club - taking the boat count for people with a disability to two.

Rear Commodore Gordon "Gordo" Raleigh says he almost took out Mr Gamble's eye with the cork of a champagne bottle at the official launch of the boat but says without this level of generosity the Sailors with a disability program simply wouldn't happen.

"It's not cheap, it's a magnificent gesture and as one of our skippers describes it, it's a little schooner called Fitroy Island.com 2 - it's quite a good little boat," he said.

Gordo says there's not much modification made to the 'disabled' boats, apart from allowing for a swing type harness to get a disabled person in and out.

To find out more and maybe even head out to sea on a Tuesday or Thursday afternoon for sea spray in your eyes and saltwater in your mouth, contact Gordo at the Cairns Yacht Club (on 4031 2750).

How much do you love those Telstra or Optus letters asking you to stay home on a week day between the hours of 8am and 6pm only for nobody to show up?

I really love those letters. I think they're fabulous, especially when you've taken a day off work, the technician doesn't show up and you ring the company and the person doesn't have any record that the meeting was ever scheduled to happen.

I laugh and laugh when that happens. It's good to be alive. I love it. **skips happily through the tulips with a smile**

No really, that happens a lot. But apparently these days it's happening less.

"(Getting the run a round) from a tel-co is really frustrating and certainly thousands of people have experienced that frustration so much so that a few years ago we hit a peak of nearly 200,000 complaints to the telecommunications ombudsman," she said.

The nature of those complaints varies but certainly includes things like the above example and billing errors but it seems the telco's are making amends. Or at least the number of complaints are occurring less frequently.

"They're going down, the number of complaints has gone down significantly but there's still a long way to go because last financial year there were nearly 140,000," said Theresa Corbin.

And it seems the way to go might be complaining to the ACCAN or at least your local media outlet.

Recently on ABC Local Radio in Cairns an elderly gentleman explained how he was recovering from cancer and caring for his terminally ill wife. His land line, internet and mobile phone service had been taken away for no apparent reason by Optus and he'd made exactly thirty calls to the tel-co explaining the urgency of his situation. None of the calls resulted in him getting services returned or with a clear date of when that might happen.

Amazingly, within 12 hours of the ABC running his story his services were switched on. What a coincidence! Apparently there were some branches covering something or other or something.

It seems the lesson here was to stop calling your tel-co over and over...and ghetting more and more frustrated.

The number for the telecommunications ombudsman however, to register a complaint might get you somewhere. It's: 1800 062 058.

And that's the advice from Theresa Corbin from the ACCAN.

"(The tel-co's) have been able to reduce the number of complaints in the last year because the problems aren't actually hard to resolve - it's not like they are great technical difficulties or anything - proven by the example of the man who contacted the media," she said.

Have you been disconnected recently by the way?

"Realistically that should take two days to get resolved," said Ms Corbin.

"If you're in a remote area it's going to take a little bit longer but even if that's the case they should be keeping you updated.

"The thing we've found, there's nothing people hate more than waiting around for someone to turn up and then they don't turn up because we're all busy and we've all got jobs to do and families to care for," she said.

It's hard to imagine approaching a tough looking bike rider, cruising around on a Fat Boy or a Softail Classic (motorbikes people, motorbikes) for advice on mental health.

But start imagining it, because now you can.

Blokes like Phil Louden, formerly a police officer and now a motorcyclist who admits he's having an ongoing battle with depression, fits that description.

He says people can come forward and ask for help, even to a person who seems at first to be darn right intimidating.

"(Depression) is something i'm dealing with and whether we attract the same sort of people, I don't know, but we're there for support as well and having our motorcycle rides and groups get together is a big help to people," says Phil Louden.

He says riding a motorbike, alone or with friends, is a perfect getaway from the uneasy companionship of depression, much better than "just getting out," or "going shopping."

"It's that feeling that you're in control of what you're doing unlike being bombarded by a group of people in a shopping complex - even if you go out to the reef on a cruise or something, there's still heaps of people around you (but on a motorcycle) you get that escape where you're just with your own thoughts and you don't have to please anyone else except yourself," he said.

That works for some people like like Phil, for his wife Vanessa it's more about being there (still on a wicked motorcycle mind you) for family and friends who might need to talk to someone.

"I've got quite a few friends and family members who are suffering from depression and mental illness and (the Black Dog Ride) is my way of committing myself back to the community and helping raise the awareness that depression is more common than people think," she said.

"There seems to be a stigma attached to this sort of thing and we need to get rid of that stigma and get these people the help they need," she said. (pic, Vanessa, Phil, yours truly)

The Black Dog Ride is an annual, nationwide event scheduled to leave 32 different towns across Australia on the 22nd of March, 2015.

The organisation says it's raised nearly two-million dollars for mental health services since the first ride in 2009.

The Black Dog Ride in far north Queensland is being organised by the Coral Coast Riders group, you can get them on Twitter @CoralCoastRiders or Facebook facebook.com/CoralCoastRiders or head to the Black Dog website to register interest and find out how you might be able to contribute.

Plenty of riders are needed and the more, well the louder and more noticeable the message will be.

The Crown of Thorns Starfish (COTS) does to the Great Barrier Reef what brussel sprouts do to your Sunday lunch: ruins it completely.

Research out this week says COTS numbers will increase 240 percent faster with just a two-degree increase in ocean temperatures, according to Dr Sven Uthicke from the Australian Institute of Marine Science.

"(Increased ocean temps) are influencing the number of larvae which are surviving. COTS produce larvae which resettles on the reef so by increasing the temperature, more larvae survives which leads to more adults," he said.

Dr Uthicke estimates as many as three million COTS already infest the Great Barrier Reef from around Cooktown down to coastal Cairns. He says the infestations could push further south towards the coast of Townsville and eventually migrate to the Whitsundays.

New technology developed by James Cook University and used by AMPTO means divers only need to inject a COTS once instead of more than 20 times as was the case in the past. However, even with more than 300,000 COTS destroyed, Dr Uthicke says there are too many other factors assisting the spread of COTS.

"It would also help to reduce land run off and have less nutrients going into the reef because that is the other side of the story that the more nutrients we have, the more the larvae will survive," said Dr Uthicke.

If this is all sounding a bit dire, well, it is. Let's compare, shall we?

Things helping COTS winThings hurting COTS

1. Land run-off/nutrients1. Divers

2. Warming oceans2. Some sea life

3. Need to be killed manually3. That's it.

4. 17-year outbreak cycle

5. Port expansions

6. Very few predators at larvae stage

7. Climate change

8. Very good, but not enough research available.

9. Increased human use of the reef

10. COTS naturally feeds on only coral tissue

11. Coral regrows incredibly slow (2mm per year).

12. You get the idea right?

13. I'm sure there was another reason...naah it's gone now.

Dr Uthicke reckons without more research into the ecology of the COTS, right now the spiny predator to the Great Barrier Reef is winning this war.

"If we can't stop climate change (the spread of COTS) seems unfortunately unavoidable and as we know, ocean temperature increases are bad for the coral anyway because that can increase coral bleaching."

"The corals might have to suffer more in the near future," he said.

COTS have historically enjoyed growth cycles of about 15-17 years with most scientists and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority agreeing the current growth spurt started off the coast of Cooktown in 2010.

Friday the 13th of February marks seven years since then-Prime Minister Kevin Rudd (pictured right) apologised to members of the stolen generation on behalf of Australians.

It's clear now what that day meant for the stolen generation: a long, emotionally challenging and painful journey.

Denise Hansell works with people in Queensland's far north who are members of that generation, lost and trying to find who they are, where they are from and where they belong.

Denise is a Bringing Them HomeWellbeing worker at Wuchopperen Health Centre where she see's the hurdles daily - starting with elders who may remember what happened but aren't ready to face the memories or share them with another person.

"From my experience, the elders can't talk about this and the next generations are asking them about it so they're coming to me now saying, "Grandma won't tell me about it, can you tell me?' and that's understandable," she says.

Denise says this week has been a good week because three people have contacted her and told her they wish to start the journey of re-connecting (where possible) with their birth parents.

One of those calls was from a person from the stolen generation who eight years ago wasn't ready to face her family. This year she's willing to try it.

It's nearly impossible to relate to someone who was in the stolen generation, unless you were taken from your parents at birth or your child was taken from you at birth. Even then...

Denise Hansell says the long term impacts of enduring what the stolen generation have endured are on display.

"What I am seeing is what's actually not working at the level where i'm working in Cairns, we're over represented in the prisons, in the out-of-home care system," she says.

Denise says more and more people are coming forward, asking about their own family history and recognising the struggle they're about to embark on to find answers.

"Every person's journey is different so it's about trying to meet them and my role is to tell them i'm here, this is your journey and we're going to go down that road together.

"I asked someone yesterday how they'd heal...Uncle said,"I'll never heal," and that's very sad to hear but with him we're working together to help him manage the best way we can."

"Others are getting better, healing slowly and becoming more in tune with what's been happening in their past and being more in control of their future," says Denise.

People in far north Queensland who identify as part of the stolen generation can get advice from a Bringing Them Home Well-Being worker like Denise at Wuchopperen or call them on (07) 4080 1000 in Cairns or (07) 4091 8400 in Atherton.

If this story has raised issues for you please call Lifeline for help by dialing 13 11 14.

Would you walk up to a stranger and ask, "Hey mate, are you happy with how your penis is right now?"

If you would ask someone that...err...actually, I hadn't planned for that response. Please don't.

But if you are transsexual, transgender or just "trans", these are the questions you'll get from complete strangers. Everyday.

So that's lovely. Imagine that: "Hey buddy, have you had an op?"

Welcome to the life of a "trans."

Sunny Drake (pictured) is an actor, producer, blogger and educator. He was born with the genitals of a woman but is now a man so he knows what that's like. (He actually thanked me for asking him discretely before I interviewed him if it was ok that I ask about his operations.)

For the record Sunny has had chest surgery but by seeing his show or talking to him you'll realise that perhaps not surprisingly, what his genitals look like is really of no consequence.

In Sunny Drake's "Transgender Seeking" (click for details) he'll show you how hard it is finding love as a transsexual and precisely when is the right moment to "fess up" with that important detail that you were born a different sex. (Before the first date? After? During? Never?)

Mostly though, Transgender Seeking will inevitably show you that if someone is 'trans', they're still a someone. You know the type, just like you, probably. Pays the rent, eats a steak, watches The Block, votes, hates The Simpsons, loves Home and Away, whatever...

It's just that his journey has been a bit different to most. And a heck of a lot tougher.

"When I was born the adults in the room took one look at my genitals and said, "Oh, it's a girl!" but I actually identify myself as a man," he says.

"I grew up in a container where there was absolutely no reflection of my own experience around me, I grew up in Brisbane and didn't actually meet another person who I knew was 'trans' until I was in my early twenties."

Although he'll answer them, Sunny would dearly love those inappropriate questions about genitalia to stop.

"Trans people are whole people with complicated personalities just like non trans people and we have our hopes and dreams, relationships, our jobs or our struggles finding jobs," he says.

Sunny knows he's still going to get asked those inappropriate questions by strangers in the short term, but in time he says, things will change.

"Most of the stories we see in mainstream media tend to focus on the physical journey's and surgery and the hormones of trans people so I feel strongly about exploring the rest of our lives too which is why I've made a show that explores relationships and dating, as a transgender person," he says.

"It's been incredibly liberating for me to do some research and look into trans-histories all over the world...trans people have existed in every single, imaginable culture through every point of time," he says.

Probably the best thing you could ask Sunny Drake is something normal, like "How'd you get into acting?"

He's active on social media and has a kajillion subscribers to his blog, check it out here.

It seems the northern quoll is easily caught by prey because of dodgy steering.

Or at least, it's wheels are too skinny.

University of Queensland Zoology Lecturer Dr Robbie Wilson even built a customised race track to measure the speed of a quoll around corners, reaching the conclusion that they slow down by about one third of their top straight line speed.

(Oh, photo credit must go to Johnathan Webb and Eric Vanderduys for that cute fella you can see.)

Quolls live in rain forest habitat which has plenty of corners to negotiate during a high speed "race of death" between our endangered fury friends and a wild cat or a fox.

"Just like when we're driving a car, when a quoll misjudges a corner, they will slide out and crash," says Dr Wilson.

"In nature, when you have a crash you're probably going to get nailed by a predator so they want to avoid that...and to avoid that they've got to slow down dramatically," he said.

Dr Wilson suggests the quoll has the advantage when getting chased because it can decide when and where to turn. He hopes to prove in further research that the predator, a cat or a fox for example, have a much faster, better ability to get around corners.

The testing track allowed Dr Wilson and his researchers to test the quolls cornering speed at various angles.

"We really had to approach it in terms of building an Olympic arena, we wanted to know not only their straight line speed as you would expect in an arena during a 100 metre dash, though it's not a 100 metres dash for a quoll, it's more like six or seven metres, but we also had to create a structure where we could change the angle or the corners it had to go through,' he said.

"We'd change it so (a quoll) would go through a 45 degree turn which is pretty light all the way through to a 135 degree turn which is quite a steep turn, almost turning back on itself," he said.

It appears the quoll, much like a maturing, lead-footed driver, learns from spinning out when taking a corner too fast by approaching the corner at a slower pace the next time around. This is bad if the car behind you is in fact a predator hoping to eat you. Perhaps depicted best by this pic of the Jack Daniels V8 Supercar closing in fast on the Norton 360 V8 Supercar. (right)

Dr Wilson said the research needs to continue to help identify other species of animal that could be at risk in the future.

"In terms of conservation we want to know what sort of species are really good at going around corners, that will help us identify the species that are really at risk in the future, especially if we get new predators that are being introduced."

"We wanted to know what characteristics of individual quolls would make them really good at making fast, quick turns and what we found was those individuals with big feet, so the equivalent of the Ian Thorpe's of the quoll world that had enormous feet allowed them to have amazing traction on the ground," he said.

"It's just like large tyres on a car, allowing a car to get around a corner more effectively, these large feet allowed the quolls to get around corners more effectively without skidding out; they had larger tyres, essentially.

About four years ago when the sun came up, residents on Taylor Street, Hull heads in far north Queensland noticed their next neighbours houses had disappeared.

There were 11 homes on the eastern side of that street on the night of February 2nd 2011, but only six remaining the following morning.

What remained was not badly damaged homes, those houses were on the other side of the road. Instead there was only soft, smooth white sand. The six homes had literally been washed away by a storm surge and that remained was the round concrete sewage plug you could see if you brushed the sand away with your hand.

Four years on coincidentally, the most significant damage that remains from Tropical Cyclone Yasi is also the damage you can't see.

Mayor of the Cassowary Coast Bill Shannon endured the cyclone in 2011 and today told ABC Local Radio that many of the people in his neck of the woods, scarring remains.

"There will always be some sort of scarring, for example when Cyclone Ita approached the coast last year and the (cyclone warning signal) was played, it really sent a shiver down our spine," he said.

The Mayor said the mental well-being of people who lived through the cyclone needs to be remembered and constantly considered.

"The truth is...we came through two cyclones (including Cyclone Larry in 2006) with no loss of life through good management but I also think with a certain degree of luck so in terms of what good came out of it - not much can be said, people are still getting over it to be honest" he said.

While the hurdle to recover from the trauma of living through such a weather event is ongoing, the rebuilding of infrastructure around the Cassowary Coast is near completion.

The Cardwell foreshore is perhaps the best example (see below, before and after) and there are now a cyclone shelter's in the region.

Cr Shannon says the region was well equipped to deal with a cyclone in 2006, but even more so today.

"We have cyclone shelters in place and our plans are even more advanced now and they were pretty good four years ago - they're even better now, and we've got natural leaders based in small communities where those people can be a conduit for information when the power's out," he said.

Cairns hospital, 140 kilometers north of where Cyclone Yasi made landfall was evacuated the day before the event.

The event was well organised but a testing time for patients and authorities, pictured here at the Cairns airport.

Ben Ryan is the disaster coordinator for health services in the far north, including the hospital and says should the worst happen and some type of Cyclone Yasi 2.0 arrived, the hospital could easily cope.

"The main thing we learned from it all is how important that inter-agency engagement is to make that happen because we need to maintain health services for residents of Cairns while we're doing the evacuation and I think we're as prepared as we can be if we need to face that again," he said.

Remembering Cyclone Yasi is unpleasant for most people, including me. If this article has raised issues for you please call Lifeline on 131114.

Also, if you're not already prepared for a cyclone and you live in Queensland, i'm mad at you but won't hold a grudge if you promise to get organised.

Cairns man Shaun Ramsey isn't all that fit by his own admission, but he'll likely "go the spew" for a good cause later this month.

He's going to run the "Red Arrow" fitness track 30 times in one day. I called him a lunatic. He agreed.

Shaun ran the 'Arrow' a couple of times last week and about three kilo's of excess Christmas pudding and custard fell off his stomach.

So when he takes on the uphill, stairs laden, devil-created, sweat-producing, spew-inducing, muscle-destroying track later this month in 35 degree heat, he knows what will happen.

"I'll be heading straight to the hospital, that's what my doctor recommended," he said.

Shaun is trying to raise $10,000 for cerebral palsy as part of "Februdarey." (No, not just another assault on the English language - it's a way to encourage people to take on a challenge and raise money for a great cause).

Shaun is auctioning some cool sports gear, including signed Queensland Reds, North Queensland Cowboys and Cairns Taipans playing uniforms. Here's the website to make a bid:

And I reckon putting a bid on is pretty fair from our end, seeing how Shaun is going to start running at 3am and not stop until 30 laps of the track are under his belt. Actually, after 30 laps of the Red Arrow, there won't be much under Shaun's belt at all.

"It'll be one of those times when i'll spend a lot of time in my own mind and overcome obstacles, hurdles or the doubters in your life that say, "No you can't do this," or "No you're not going to do this," well i've got a message for them and it's pretty clear," he said.

Shaun hits the track at 3am on Saturday the 21st of February. If you're not going to throw some money his way, maybe you could go and cheer him on?

Far north Queensland locals can chew your ear off telling you how they survived a cyclone or two. Or three. Or four.

Locals up this way will never recall Cyclones Winifred (1986), Larry (2006) or Yasi (2011) with any level of fondness, the memories are horrible, but the people certainly have survived.

But the far north's population is statistically aging at a faster rate than the rest of the country, no doubt those numbers are boosted by popular retirement destination towns including Cardwell and Bramston Beach.

There could be new retiree's living in those areas who've never experienced a cyclone.

And just because you're a local and you've managed in the past, the harsh reality is you might not be as well placed to do it again. If you can recall Cyclone Winifred, perhaps when you were an energetic, community minded, chainsaw weilding 45-year-old?

Well now you're 74 years old. Weilding that chainsaw to clear fallen debris might be out of the question. (Not to mention there's no way the same chainsaw would even start, but I digress.)

One local researcher has recognised the need for a seperate, more suitable disaster plan for people over the age of 65 and wants to formulate it by talking to the people in these far northern towns, in that age group.

Sandy Astill is a Cairns Phd student at James Cook University in Cairns and wants make sure the current ethos of emergency management authorities of "plan to look after yourself" is applicable to the aging population of the far north.

"What I want to do is ask emergency service providers to rethink their self-help approach they seem to have for us," says Ms Astill.

She particularly wants to talk to elderly residents (over the age of 65) from the towns of Innisfail (including Flying Fish Point and Coconuts), Bramston Beach, Cowley Beach, Kurrimine Beach, Wongaling Beach, Tully Heads and Cardwell.

You don't need to have experienced a cyclone to get involved, just be over the age of 65.

"There's a lot of people living independently who rely on in-care help, there are medical services and things like Meals on Wheels and as we all know when a cyclone strikes, those things stop," she says.

Ms Astill says it can be an unpleasant conversation to have in your home because the thought of not being self sufficient can often lead to a conversation about nursing homes.

But the point of Ms Astill's research is to find out exactly what people over the age of 65 are faced with during a disaster to make a more suitable plan. And to hekp them remain self- reliant.

The political advertisments you're seeing on Queesnland tv during this election (yes, the ones that you find yourself swearing at) are expensive, costing anywhere from $3,000 upwards.

But if they sway you enough to get your vote, every politician will tell you it's money well spent. Well they would. It's your money.

But here's the thing. According to Phil McDonald, Managing Director of advertising agency George Patterson Y & R, all of the commercials are severely lacking in, how do I say, the ability to make you give a rat's ass.

"There's no emotion and no attachment and no love or admiration for these political parties anymore," says Phil McDonald.

He says these emotionally void commercials are the reason we see such enormous swings for and against political parties.

"People don't care about the values (the politcal parties) present nor do they know."

"I think advertising is a way of injecting that emotion and telling people about these values that these parties have so there's some attraction that lasts longer than an election."

Here's some examples of current politcal commercials ruining your evening tv time and how Phil McDonald describes the techniques behind them.

"The technical term for this ad is 'putting a desired response into your message' - (Clive Palmer) wants to see the end of Campbell Newman for well publicised reasons. I'm not sure if it resonates, I think most people would watch that ad and have a laugh. The thing about that technique is it does nothing for the Palmer United Party but then it's not designed to. It's designed to get the existing government out of power." - Phil McDonald.

"The repetition technique (the words strong, stronger or strongest featured seven times in 30 seconds - for those playing at home) works for a lot of reasons. The first is people aren't 100% engaged in your ad the whole time so if you've got one eye on the ironing and one eye on the tv you're getting one word coming through.

Political advertising doiesn't get a lot of time to cut through and to get to the point, so that's the other reason why you see political advertising using repetitions."

"The downside to this is if you play the voter for a fool and if you annoy them then you may not get their loyalty." - Phil McDonald.

"The emotion is not there. (Annastasia Palaszcuk) could have done with some real emotion wrapped around her and some real stories about what her vision is, but I think it's just ticking a box. I'd be surprised if that's going to be as powerful as some of the negative advertising."

And finally here's the advertisement featuring ex-LNP Member for Stafford, Dr Chris Davis, that ranked for Phil McDonald as the biggest waste of money.

"If (all former politicians) started doing this we'd be bored to death. I hope it never happens. I don't understand what i'm supposed to do at the end of this ad. I don't know whether I should vote Labor, I don't know whether I should vote Greens, I don't know what i should do and I think that's a waste of money."

But on the last day of ABC Far North broadcasting last year I was hosting a talkback show based on the theme "Positive." I simply wanted people to call with reasons why they were happy and to wish them a Merry Christmas.

Glassy called for a chat and below is the audio.

Glassy (Stephen Glass) passed away in his sleep two days after Christmas, 2014, just a few weeks after this interview.

Blokes like Glassy are what makes ABC Local Radio special and unique. Your tales and recollections, your jokes, your humour, your opinions. Your stories of survival.

I'll miss talking to Glassy on the radio and i'm certain listeners to the station will miss him too.

My thoughts and those of everyone here at ABC Far North are with Glassy's family and friends and the community of Ravenshoe. Thanks for the laughs Glassy.

Being a councillor in a far northern region isn't your average nine to five office job.

Cassowary Coast councillor Mark Nolan knows this all too well when at 11:30pm Tuesday night a local fisherman knocked on his window to say, "Hey, I've caught this croc accidently - it's two metres - can you look after it?"

It seems the crocodile - not uncommon in the waters of the Johnstone River at Innisfail - caught the fisherman's bait and went into a death roll, and wrapped itself up in fishing line.

After some debate the man agreed to house the croc on the bottom bunk of his house, while he slept on the top. His girlfriend was apparently asked to leave the small home for the evening for safety reasons. No word yet on if they are on speaking terms since getting shoved out of bed in favour of a saltwater croc.

Oh, that photo of a crocodile isn't the one in question. That's called file footage to make the story seem scarier.